Substitution determinations

If an entity submits reports under the Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA), you may be able to use a report prepared for another jurisdiction, known as a substituted report, to satisfy your reporting requirements in Canada. This can reduce your reporting burden under the ESTMA. Read on to learn more about substituted reports.

The substitution policy

Section 10 of the ESTMA allows the Minister of Natural Resources to determine whether the reporting requirements of another jurisdiction are an acceptable substitute for those set out in section 9 of the ESTMA. The Government makes such a determination by assessing whether another jurisdiction’s legislation or other measure:

• Achieves the purposes of the reporting requirements under the ESTMA (that is, deters corruption through public transparency)
• Addresses a similar scope to the reporting requirements in the ESTMA

Once a substitution determination is issued by the Minister of Natural Resources, a reporting entity may provide ESTMA with the same report it submitted to the other jurisdiction. The Minister of Natural Resources may also impose additional requirements, which would be named in the substitution determination.

Current substitution determinations

Assessment of the European Union Accounting and Transparency Directives

• As of July 31, 2015, the reporting requirements in the European Union’s (EU) Accounting and Transparency Directives meet the purpose of the Government of Canada’s ESTMA and are an acceptable substitute for the requirements set out in section 9.
• Reports submitted to EU and European Economic Area (EEA) member-states that have implemented the EU Accounting and Transparency Directives at a national level may be submitted as a substitute for a report prepared under the ESTMA.
• As a condition to the substitution determination, the report must be accompanied by the ESTMA reporting template cover page that includes a completed attestation statement.

Assessment of the Quebec Extractive Sector Transparency legislation: An Act respecting transparency measures in the mining, oil and gas industries and the Regulation respecting the application of the Act respecting transparency measures in the mining, oil and gas industries

• It has been determined that the payment reporting requirements found in Quebec’s extractive sector transparency legislation achieve the purposes of the reporting requirements under the ESTMA and are an acceptable substitute for those set out in section 9 of the ESTMA.
• Reports submitted to Quebec under An Act respecting transparency measures in the mining, oil and gas industries and its accompanying regulations may be submitted to the Minister of Natural Resources as a substitute for a report prepared under the ESTMA.
• As a condition to the substitution determination, the report must be accompanied by the ESTMA reporting template cover page, excluding the completed attestation statement, which is already provided under Quebec’s An Act respecting transparency measures in the mining, oil and gas industries.

The substitution process

To be eligible to use a substitution determination, a reporting entity must be subject to the reporting requirements of the other jurisdiction and must have provided the report to the other jurisdiction’s competent authority. The report submitted under the ESTMA must be the exact report that was submitted to the other jurisdiction. The report must be accompanied by an ESTMA cover page and a completed attestation statement.

Additional information may be required if the substitution determination includes additional conditions. To meet additional conditions, reporting entities must submit and publish an ESTMA reporting template containing the additional information required by the substitution determination for that jurisdiction as an addendum to their substituted report.

Reporting entities must also follow the publication requirements set out in the ESTMA, as per section 12.

View instructions for submitting a substituted report on the Report under the ESTMA web page.

Create and submit a substituted report

Follow these steps to submit a substituted report:

1. Ensure that your substituted report is from a jurisdiction that is approved for substitution under the ESTMA. Ensure that you have met all additional conditions in the substitution determination.
2. Download the ESTMA reporting template and complete the Data Entry sheet, which will automatically populate the report’s Cover Page.
3. Publish your ESTMA report cover page along with the exact substituted report submitted in the other jurisdiction online.
   1. 1. Your report must be published online in a machine-readable format (PDF or XLSX).
      2. Your report must be published on a publicly accessible website (but not necessarily a corporate website) within 150 days of the end of the entity’s fiscal year.
      3. Your report must remain publicly available for a period of at least five years, and all payment records must be kept for seven years from the date that we accept the report.
4. After your substituted report and cover page are published, submit the ESTMA Report Cover Page through the NRCan eServices Portal in XLSX format. Include the substituted report in the Supporting Documentation section. You may also include any independent audit material in the Supporting Documentation section.
5. You will receive an email if we require any report revisions or if we accept the report.

Deadline for submitting a substituted report

Should the deadline for filing a report in the other jurisdiction extend beyond 150 days after the end of a Reporting Entity’s financial year, the Reporting Entity must notify NRCan within 150 days by email of its intent to submit a substituted report at a later date. The Reporting Entity must submit its report to NRCan within the timeframe prescribed by the other jurisdiction.

Should the deadline for filing a report in the other jurisdiction precede 150 days after the end of a Reporting Entity’s financial year, the Reporting Entity must submit the substituted report within the deadline set out in section 9 of the ESTMA.